Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Badlands OX or Cabela's Instinct Extreme Frame Pack

Which pack and why.......will be hunting Alaska next season and need a good pack. This will be my first pack in and hunt in Alaska. Thanks in advance.

I've not used the Badlands frame, but I've looked at them and thought you couldn't give me one of these things to use. I've carried various Cabelas's packs over the years and never wanted to buy one afterward. If the load isn't too heavy (50-75 pounds) it might work okay. I'd much rather go with a better pack and save some heartache from the beginning.

Barney's

I have bought 2 of cabelas packs and while they worked, they left a lot to be desired. I would take a hard look at an Outdoorsmans pack. I have an optic hunter and it is amazing. It is a lot lighter than a barneys pack and it rides a lot like an internal but it has an external frame.

hunting pard, has a Barney's used it for years while guiding, he also ran the Kifaru Longhunter (?) for a brief period, but didn't think it hauled heavy weight as well.

but these days he uses external frame Cabela's outfitter/guide some such name

the pack bag velcros onto the frame, so you can carry your stuff and if you get an animal, you just drop the bag and use the shelf and handy little straps and load carrier to put your meat in there and keep on trucking.

not too terribly expensive, and he swears by that system. the old boy has the experience to know what works and doesn't

granted it's an external, vs. the internal you mentioned

and in that light, if I'm hauling meat, I take my Barney's and leave the Mystery ranch, the McHale etc. behind

if you're sold on an internal by all means have one, but for some of us guys that have packed a lot of meat out, a good portion of us still prefer externals for that chore.

What he said...

You guys are fantastic will do my research on each and everyone you guys mentioned as per the Barney which model external and internal?

Pinnacle is the big Barney's, and is an external. Not cheap, but worth the money.

Kind of depends on what you are doing. Are you looking for a daypack to hunt out of camp or a pack large and tough enough to pack in 10 days worth of camp gear and food?

Basically looking for a pack to hunt out off, carry a rifle, food, and meat from game harvest. 3 of us will be dropped of via airplane and roughing it approx. a 5 day hunt.. Thanks cwk2 for the information!!!!!

I think the pinnacle is somewhere north of $600 now. They are a great pack, and hold up to a lot of use, but that is a lot of money for a pack if you are not going to use it often.

If you don't have a recurring use for an 8000ci pack, I'd look into the Dana external frames. You can get them for under $200, and they are a hell of a pack.

If it will only get used once I would still suggest the Barney's and trip if after the trip... There is no substitute for a real pack if moose is involved...

There's no subsitute for Sherpa if a moose in involved.

That's the name of my next horse!

Nothing hauls a moose better than a wheeler or sxs.

Depends where you are.

If I shoot a moose, you can bet your bottom dollar I can get a wheeler to it, unless i'm float hunting.

True. And the shoulder padding on the Barney's pack is worth a lot of money at certain points. But there are other solid options out there too.

See Vek's picture in the "self inflicted GSW to the foot" thread... I believe that's a Dana frame. Of course, he's packing a sheep quarter, but its a BIG sheep quarter!

Barneys hands down. Check out the youtube video of the guy strapping his secretary to a Barney's pack and walking around the office with her on his back.

Would depend on the floor and the secretary... But still hard to imagine an office floor and a secretary to match a moose swamp...